If you’re a fan of Kutless like I am, you’ll want to check this out!
A free Kutless MP3 is being given away at Bible Study Magazine. They are also having a contest to win cool Kutless gear and Logos Bible Software. Go check it out!
A few of us from Cornerstone Christian Fellowship photography group took our cameras out last Wednesday night to see what we could capture at the monthly Art Walk event. Here’s a few shots I took…
When Andrew and Amber arrived for Thanksgiving dinner they gave us a new Christmas list. Since Andrew is famous for adding more things to his “wish list” each year I didn’t think anything special of it, that is, until I saw my wife’s reaction. She handed the list to me and I fully expected to see something very expensive on it. Instead, this is what the list said…
As you can expect, we are extremely happy about the news and look forward to each month to come!
I’m set for on the go type shooting. I’ve got an awesome HD video camera (Canon XH-A1) and a Bogen 561B fluid monopod to help steady it.
For any set shots (interviews, studio, etc) I need a lot more gear! I have the following on loan…
Here’s what I’d like to start out with (in order of priority)…
Now here’s the stuff I’d like to have to do the shots I plan to do…
Looks like I can only get the calibration “close”. I’m only 1 or 2 tenths of an f-stop off. I tried it in both 60i and 30F frame rates. They both use 640 iso for the correct calibration. I just need to switch between 60 fps and 30 fps on the Sekonic.
Now to try it for real!
So, Adobe’s OnLocation is officially a very cool product. I was able to get the waveform pretty much spot on to 50% using an 18% gray card and opening up my Canon XH-A1 aperture to f/3.4. Now here’s where I’m stuck. My Sekonic L-358 will read either f/3.2 or f/3.6 but won’t calibrate in to f/3.4.
Anyone have any ideas or is that close enough?
My friend Mark Wallace pointed me in the right direction on how to calibrate my Sekonic L-358 meter to work with my Canon XH-A1 video camera. Out of the box, the L-358 works great with DSLR cameras with ambient or flash photography. No adjustments necessary.
But, when working with a video camera, you need to calibrate the meter to your camera so that the reading the meter recommends actually are the right settings for your camera! So, that’s what I’m off to do today so that I’ll be ready to shoot some testimonials for the Cornerstone Women’s Ministry on Tuesday afternoon.
I’ll post back here what I did to calibrate and how it worked…
I started Saturday off by attending another Second Saturday Cornerstone community event at Harvest Oaks Assisted Living Center at Anderson Springs. Earlier in this blog, I posted a video from my first trip there. I got to spend some time getting to know Art better and a new lady named Evelyn. What a great way to start the day!
I then took my mom and dad’s old 8mm movies to A.V.E. (audio video editors) located at Alma School and Queen Creek where they will scan each frame and convert them into DVD movies! I can’t remember the last time I saw these. I’m pretty sure I was a young boy…
Donna and I tried a new restaurant Saturday night. Very good fish and chips (my meal) and swordfish (Donna’s) with Creme Brulee to finish it off.
On Sunday, I started the day at 6:00 am mixing sound for the worship band at Cornerstone. Setup, practice and four services later I headed home around 1:30 pm. Too windy to fly at the park, I just vegged out on the couch and relaxed.
How was your weekend?
Recently, I built a teleprompter from lumber, glass and screws I purchased from Lowes. A teleprompter allows the person being videotaped to read script from a screen (the glass plate) while the video is shot through that same glass. How does it work? To make a teleprompter, the glass needs to be at a 45 degree angle or as close as you can get to it. the camera goes behind the glass and should be enclosed ( i used a black sheet) to block out light. This is important to get the text to reflect properly. The text comes from either a laptop or flat panel monitor laying in front of and below the glass.
To correctly orient the text, you will need to use some type of prompter software, which will allow the text to be reversed so that, when reflected on the glass, it reads correctly to the talent reading the script. You can find free software on the web (CuePrompter comes to mind) but I decided to go with PromptDog from DVCreators. Another tool that looks pretty good (we used it for this test shoot) was Script-Q. For me, it was very important for the talent to have their monitor reversed and my second screen (used to control the speed, etc) was oriented normal. Both of these tools can do that.
The video was shot with a single Lowell Rifa eX softbox light on a boom stand and a black backdrop. I used my friend Mark Wallace’s Sennheiser G2 Evolution wireless microphone with a lavalier mic. I can’t recommend quality audio highly enough. It made the difference between a clear broadcast quality recording versus what sounded like a mic in a box (which it was) by using the microphone on the video camera (Canon XH-A1).
So, what would I do different in the next shoot? Setup and teardown time was the biggest problem followed closely by moving all this equipment to and from my truck and conference room. Using a collapsable backdrop would speed this up and allow me to use a smaller room. In a smaller room, I could use a straight light stand and eliminate the extra weight of a boom stand.
Now for the teleprompter… version 2 would be made of lightweight aluminum instead of heavy plywood. L channel for the 45 degree glass guide and a silvered see-through mirror instead of normal glass and it would be made a bit bigger to handle larger than a 15” flat panel monitor.
Ben, Kevin and I went to the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, Arizona today for lunch. Ben is friends with some of the members and the club president. I brought along my cameras. I’ll be posting photos here!
Occasionally, when I’m not flying (ok, crashing) planes/helicopters at the park or swamped at work learning new skills while juggling 4–5 deliverables, I get a chance to get out on my motorcycle (Honda Interceptor) for a ride into some beautiful areas of Arizona. It sure beats the daily commute to work, which is all the Interceptor has been seeing lately.
Today, I joined several other riders from Cornerstone’s MC group on a breakfast ride to Strawberry Lodge. I’ve been to Payson tons of times and have eaten at several spots (my favorite being the Payson Airport cafe) but I’ve never gone up through Pine or Strawberry for breakfast. Tony and Walt picked a great place. They hold the record for getting the food to the table in the shortest amount of time!
Here are some photos (from the lodge) and a quick video I put together. I rode on ahead of the group and pulled over to the side of the road to film them riding by. Sorry for any shakiness. As I was on my motorcycle, I didn’t have any tripods, monopods and certainly no camera dollies and track!
Cornerstone MC Ride to Strawberry Lodge from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: To see a larger version in HD, hove over the embedded video above and click on the Vimeo logo!
On Sunday August 31st, Lee drove his RV down to the SAGE field near Tucson with George, Charlie, Scott, Vu, Brad, Dan, Tony, Jim and I onboard. Dirk and Jason followed in Dirk’s Subaru. It takes about an hour and a half to get from The Bowl to their field, which is located near Marana Airport.
Why were we all headed down there? To participate in Round 2 of their Beat The Heat DLG contest of course. And boy were we sporty with our matching “Chandler Bowl” shirts with the DLG logos on them! Kind of like a very large bowling team pouring out of the motor home when we arrived!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fly due to a broken boom at my elevator/rudder. That happened the day before the event while I was trimming the plane out for competition. Oh well, that allowed me plenty of time to take video and some photos and to cheer the other guys on!
All in all, the guys did very well as a team and Charlie and George took 1st and 2nd place respectively.
Tucson Beat The Heat - Aug 31, 2008 from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: To see a larger version in HD, hove over the embedded video above and click on the Vimeo logo!
A video of my friend, Chris “Fogger” Wuester flying his T-Rex 500 helicopter with the new Fusion Pack 6 cell 2500mAh lithium polymer batteries. Video taken with a Canon XH-A1 using Steven Dempsey’s PANALOOK preset.
T-Rex 500 Fusion 6s2500mAh 25C from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: to see this video in a larger format, with HD turned on, hover over the embedded video then click on the word “Vimeo”!
Here is a video of my friends throwing and catching their Discus Launch Gliders (DLG) at a local schoolyard here in Chandler, Arizona.
DLG Launch Styles at the Schoolyard from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: to see this video in a larger format, with HD turned on, hover over the embedded video then click on the word “Vimeo”!
I recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica. Our U.S. Service Manager team went there for a face-to-face meeting with the Account Managers that we work hand in hand with everyday. It was a very productive meeting that not only produced some much needed foundational material, it also was an excellent team building opportunity that will significantly increase team synergy. Our hosts in Costa Rica were incredible.
We also had a couple of extra days to do some sightseeing while we were there. Here’s some photos taken from the Marriott in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Vlad Shulga, Sam Vause and I took a cab down to the pedestrian area of downtown San Jose. There we saw the exterior of the National Theater and toured the state of the art underground museum.
Vlad and I also got to see the La Paz Waterfall, Butterfly and Hummingbird gardens while we were there. Here’s a few photos from that tour.
Finally, several of us drove to Herradura, Costa Rica and stayed overnight in the Marriott Los Suenos. I took a few photos around that hotel and at the nearby marina.
My son Andrew and I drove up to Snowflake, Arizona to see my Mom on July 3rd and 4th. Andrew drove his Honda Element, which gave me an opportunity to shoot some scenery with my Canon XH-A1 using Steven Dempsey’s PANALOOK preset.
Snowflake - There and Back Again 2008 from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: to see this video in a larger format, with HD turned on, hover over the embedded video then click on the word “Vimeo”!
On June 27th, 2008 my son Adam graduated from the Casa Grande Fire Academy. He begins full-time firefighting on July 9th in Casa Grande.
Adam’s Casa Grande Fire Academy Graduation from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: to see this video in a larger format, with HD turned on, hover over the embedded video then click on the word “Vimeo”!
Here’s a much shorter, more punchy version of the “Second Saturday” video I posted earlier.
Shortened version of “Second Saturday” video from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: to see this video in a larger format, with HD turned on, hover over the embedded video then click on the word “Vimeo”!
We recently held a “Man to Man” dinner at Cornerstone to celebrate the completion of Men’s Fraternity Year 3 – The Great Adventure. There was lots of food, entertainment and moving testimonies by Tony and Jim. Mike Erre, author of “Why Guys Need God” was the guest speaker.
Man To Man Dinner 2008 from Cecil Walker on Vimeo.
Note: to see this video in a larger format, with HD turned on, hover over the embedded video then click on the word “Vimeo”!
As you may have noticed, I’m a big fan of Vimeo, both to watch videos as well as upload mine to. One of the cool features of Vimeo is the ability to make Groups. This allows people, with similar interests, cameras, etc to have a space where they can put there videos.
I recently created a Group called Cornerstone with the idea that this would be a place for members of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship to upload their videos. It’s a great way to get in contact with other Cornerstone videographers and to share tips, techniques and ideas. Come check it out!
http://www.vimeo.com/groups/Cornerstone
